Masami Kobayashi

Masami Kobayashi (18 June 1890-7 August 1977) was a Vice Admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.

Biography
Masami Kobayashi was born on 18 June 1890 in Yonezawa, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. He joined the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1910, and he served as a naval attache to the United States in the 1930s. In 1937, he was promoted to Rear Admiral and given command of the Sasebo Naval District, and he was promoted to Vice Admiral in October 1941. Because of his alignment with the pro-Washington Naval Treaty faction of politics, he was sent to personnel recruitment back home in Japan, and he became the commander of the IJN 4th Fleet on 1 April 1943. He was blamed for the loss of much of his fleet in the Battle of Truk and dismissed from command, and he entered the reserves on 31 May 1944. Kobayashi was jailed in Sugamo Prison from 1945 to 1952, and he was an instructor for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force until his death in 1977.